Mar 10, 2020 - Sale 2533

Sale 2533 - Lot 152

Price Realized: $ 281
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 400 - $ 600
(MASSACHUSETTS.) Memorial scrapbook prepared upon the death of jurist Simon Greenleaf, a longtime supporter of Liberia. 36 items (12 condolence letters, 4 related manuscripts, 15 newspaper clippings, and 5 other pieces of printed ephemera) mounted on 27 scrapbook leaves. 4to, original 1/2 morocco with spine title "Herbarium," minimal wear; minimum wear to contents beyond occasional adhesive staining. Vp, 1853-54 and undated
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Additional Details

Simon Greenleaf (1783-1854) was raised in Cape Cod and Maine, and became a prominent lawyer and Harvard law professor. The condolence letters in this volume are written to Greenleaf's widow Hannah Kingman Greenleaf or their son James Greenleaf (1814-1865) from Greenleaf's associates in the worlds of law and theology such as Theron Metcalf, Thomas Slidell and Leonard Woods, and from his charitable endeavors such as the American Tract Society. Two manuscript resolutions relate to his interest in the African colonization movement. The "Trustees of Donations for Education in Liberia" credited Greenleaf as their founder: "Though a college in Liberia had been thought desirable by many, and some had intended to aid in its establishment, yet nothing effectual had even been commenced . . . till he originated the movement." They also noted that he attended a board meeting on the afternoon of his death--"This, so far as we know, was his last public service." The Massachusetts Colonization Society sent a reminiscence of their eight-term president, recalling that he had been "the habitual correspondent and valued counsellor of the leading men in Liberia, contributing more . . . than any other white man to . . . the government of that republic." Among the printed items are the program from his memorial service, and a silhouette portrait of his father Moses Greenleaf.